uch has been made of the decision to mute the candidates’ microphones for a time during the next televised Trump-Biden debate. Given his urge to interrupt and wisecrack during an opponent’s address (as Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and various Republican runners in the primaries have all found), this is alleged to be a negative for Donald Trump.
On balance, however, Trump probably has the most to gain from the second, and final, presidential debate of the 2020 contest. With many postal and early ballots cast, only two weeks left and a deficit in national and some swing states, the president has few opportunities left to gain a swift decisive advantage over his opponent. Apparently, Trump favoured pushing the debate back to 29 October, perhaps to give more time for preparation amid a busy schedule of rallies, but he was dissuaded. Even if he won a debate it would be too close to polling day to change many minds that have long since been made up.
